The long putter allows the 5-foot-8 Couture to stand straighter so his back pain is a thing of the past and he can practice as much as he wants. Some days he practices his putting for two hours, rolling balls back and forth between the same two cups.

“Putting is just practice,” Couture said. “Anybody can be a good putter. It’s very revolutionary, this thing called practice.”

Couture sees others practicing 10-footers, but he spends most of his time practicing putts of 30 to 40 feet. If he misses, he wants to roll the ball past the cup, but by no more than 14 inches.

Couture doesn’t use a belly putter. His is longer. Couture has three sets of the same clubs with the same 48-inch Ping G5i Craz-e putters he cut down from 50 inches to fit into his travel bag. He keeps one set at Pleasant Valley where he has won several senior club championships and placed second this year, one at Bear Lakes and one in the trunk of his car in case he gets a call from someone needing a fourth at the last minute.

Couture anchors the top of his putter with his left hand under his chin and against his chest. He splits his right index and middle fingers at the end of the grip halfway down the shaft. He stands as upright as he can, holds his head so his eyes are directly over the ball and swings the putter like a pendulum.

Couture’s long putter came in handy when he set the course record at Highfields nearly a decade ago. He birdied the last four holes to shoot a 2-under 70 from the back tees in the opening round en route to winning the club championship. PGA Tour star Keegan Bradley and Dave Bavosi of Hopedale have since also shot 70s.

Couture’s other golf highlights include capturing the Wachusett CC club championship, the Boston Globe Tournament of Champions and teaming with Don Hein to win the Wachusett Four-Ball all in the same year, winning the WGAM Mother-Son Tournament in 1983 with his mother, Henrietta, and prevailing in the 2009 and 2010 Walter Cosgrove Worcester County Four-Ball with L.J. Tosches.

On Aug. 20, Couture shot a 5-over 77 at Blissful Meadows to qualify for the Mass. Mid-Amateur Tuesday through Thursday at Framingham CC. Couture will have a decision to make if he doesn’t play well in the opening round because the U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier will be Wednesday at New England CC in Bellingham. Couture played in the U.S. Senior Amateur two years ago, then neglected to register for the qualifier last year.

“That’s what happens when you’re a senior, you forget to send it in,” Couture joked.

Couture didn’t make the cut in the U.S. Senior Amateur two years ago, and he blamed his misfortune on practicing too much. His back acted up.

Couture is exempt for the Mass. Senior Amateur Sept. 24 and 25 at Cape Cod National GC in Brewster. He finished third in that event in 2009.

Webb Simpson, Bradley and Adam Scott are among the PGA Tour players who use belly or long putters, but Couture doesn’t believe a longer putter would be the answer for everyone.

“If it was that great, everybody would be using it,” he said. “No matter what you use, it’s the puttee, not the putter.”

Couture, president of Couture Financial Services in Worcester, has his golf trophies scattered throughout his office. A plaque commemorates the hole-in-one he carded with a driver on the 298-yard, par-4 15th hole on the links course at Bear Lakes on Feb. 10, 2009. Ironically, the day before, Couture and Rick Karbowski, teaching pro at Auburn Driving Range, had mentioned that neither ever had a double eagle. They played together when Couture got his double-eagle ace.

The Joe Plante Memorial Labor Day Four-Ball at Heritage Country Club in Charlton this weekend has its largest field ever — a sold-out 142 golfers.

Last year, 96 golfers played, and that was the most until this year. In previous years, 64-80 golfers took part. This year, 112 men in seven flights and 30 women played.

The field has increased because the number of Heritage members has soared to more than 200 from about 130 only two years ago, and all of the four-ball players are members. Also, many members play to honor Plante, the club’s former owner who died in 2000. Upward of 100 people come out to watch each year so Plante’s son, Bill, the current owner, rents extra carts for them.

“It’s just such a tribute to what we’ve put together here to have the tournament be that full,” Bill Plante said. “In today’s day and age when people are scrambling to put a tournament together, it’s amazing here.”

Joe Plante died at age 60 of a heart attack 12 years ago last Monday while playing at Heritage with Bill, Rich Powers, Mike Haglof and Jeff Bujnowski. The group was talking about the upcoming four-ball when Plante dropped dead while bending over to tee up his ball on 18.

“As some of the guys said, ‘We lost the king,’ ” Bill Plante said. “He was so well-respected and loved this place so much.”

A week later, the four-ball was held and renamed after him. Some members wore green ribbons to honor Plante’s Irish heritage. All these years later, some members still do.

Bill Plante played in the tournament that weekend because he knew that’s what his father would have wanted. He made six birdies on his own ball the first day, but he and his partner lost the following day. Bill Plante has won the four-ball six times, most recently two years ago with Bujnowski.

Plante’s son, Joe, played in the event this weekend as well, with Rory Havolitti. Joe is a senior at St. John’s High and played for the school’s state championship golf team last fall. Joe’s teammate Nick DiReda of North Oxford, the reigning club champion at Pleasant Valley CC, is also playing in the four-ball. Last weekend, Joe shot a 4-over 75 at Heritage to win the Central Mass. Junior Tour championship.

Bill was a better player so he used to tease his father by asking him on the first tee how many shots he needed to give him. So Joe told Bill he couldn’t wait for the day when Bill’s son asked him that same question. Well, that time has arrived. Bill is a 2-handicap and his son is a 1. Joe’s best round at Heritage was a 5-under 66 last year. He bogeyed the last hole to fall short of tying his father’s career-best, a 6-under 65, a number Bill has shot four times.

Two-time champion Brendan Hester of Pleasant Valley CC finished second in the 16th annual Tarlow Invitational at Thorny Lea in Brockton last week. Hester shot a pair of 1-under 69s to finish six shots behind Colin Brennan of Indian Ridge in Andover. Brennan’s 132 was a tournament record. Hester won the event in 2001 and 2010. … The 25th Worcester State Hockey/John Coughlin Scholarship Golf Tournament will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Leicester CC. For more information, contact John Guiney at (508) 769-8248 or jmguiney@aol.com.

Bill Doyle can be contacted by email at wdoyle@telegram.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.